1,750 HP Chevrolet Camaro Loses Control At 200 MPH: Video

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Disclaimer: the video above may be uncomfortable to watch for some, as it shows footage from inside the vehicle of both the driver and passenger experiencing the wreck.

Racing is not for the cowardly, and professional drivers know that every time they strap into their machines, it could be a bad day. Thankfully, there are always more good days than bad. But, this particular day wasn’t a good one.

The driver and his twin-turbo, 1,750 hp Chevrolet Camaro took to the Shift S3ctor high speed drag racing event for passes when things went awry.

Near 200 mph, the Camaro breaks loose, sending the vehicle into a fish tail. The Camaro then spins and performs a handful of rolls before landing right side up. The driver remained conscious through the entire wreck, but the passenger lost consciousness in the process.

Both drivers miraculously escaped the vehicle with zero serious injuries, but the same can’t be said for the Chevrolet Camaro.

You can hardly call that a roll cage. More like a roll bar. One horizontal bar behind their heads is not nearly enough protection for a vehicle like that. Don’t believe me? Give ‘roll cage’ a Google search to see how it should’ve been done.

Read scott3’s below comment. I think that about sums it up. The “cage” they had failed and barely kept them from breaking their necks. And as he pointed out as well, the bar was pretty much meant for autocross. Not a 200 mph run.

En5, it isn’t a cage. It is a roll bar. Big difference. NHRA requires that any car going over 150 mph have a cage. I know this isn’t an NHRA event, but that sheds some light on how unsafe this situation was.

So many things that scare the crap outta me about this one. The biggest was the shots of the interior after the crash, with the main roll hoop bent downward. I could go on about “what were they thinking?” but what’s the point.
Fortunately everyone survived the incident, except one very expensive Camaro.
Maybe next time invest in having a full cage properly installed, you might not be as lucky twice.

Expecting a modified stock Camaro (or any stock model) to go 200 MPH without coming unglued to the road is a a fool’s game. That car has had NHRA versions run successfully at those speeds. This was clearly not an NHRA sanctioned event. Just some lucky dumb asses given the keys to one very explosively dangerous death defying rocket ship. Count your blessings fellas. You got handed a gift from the heavens…

I love all the Internet experts talking shit about the safety equipment in this car when BOTH PASSENGERS JUST WALKED AWAY from a 200mph crash….I guess dumb-asses talk trash even when real life just proved they don’t know what the hell they are talking about.

He is correct as that was a fully inadequate bar for what they were doing.

They should have had a larger bar and no less a more comprehensive cage.

This bar from the film failed and what little was left only did part of the job. They both came close to breaking their necks. Helmet should have never contacted the roof it it was constructed to withstand these dynamics.

The Dynamic exceed the abilities of a bar only meant for slow roll overs at a Autocross event and to bolt your Go pro to.

Just because you walked away does not mean the they did it right. Even when you do it right it is difficult to walk away at those speeds.

My Friend John Lingenfelter the great racer and engine builder crashed in a full pro stock chassis with a 1600 HP Cobalt with a Turbo V6. He broke his neck and later dies of complications.

As for knowing. Well I hope I am qualified as I am a dealer of several race chassis and a number of approved roll cages that could have handled this.

As the others have stated this one would never have passed NHRA regs and how do I know this. We do NHRA Chassis inspections and approvals once a year for customers.

People tend to underestimate how much a crash is at 200 than even just 150 MPH as the forces begin to multiply much.

You my friend are the one foolish enough to think you know what you are talking about. You appear to mistake luck with proper cage safety.

If anything it was the way GM built the car that did them more good. Also these crashes where a car rolls due to spinning around and the air lifting them off are no where like if they hit something solid either. These crashes are minor. Of they had a proper cage the roof would not be folded down on them. They should have had a halo bar and at least bars in the front of them too.

Their crash was like the Earnhardt had at Daytona back in 1997 where it did a roll with the air once turned sideways. In his case his cages was good enough he got back in and finished the race with a crushed body but running car.

These two guys instead of laughing and taking photo’s should be on their knees giving thanks.

I am not sure what is worse two idiots in a ill prepared car doing this or the idiots that defend them.

I would recommend looking at the cars at The dry lakes and salt flats. They not only have more solid cages but they also add weight to the cars to keep them flying.

The Firebird door slammer that made 300 MPH first added much weight to the car just to keep it on the ground. Also they lower them and even with the weight and lowering they still like to fly.

My friend you owe these guys above an apology as they are right an you are as wrong as the two lucky guys here. .

To be honest the car held up well considering it had nothing but what GM gave them other than the small bar.

I think someone might be over estimating the HP on this car. NHRA Pro Stock cars (way far from stock) run about 1300 HP and can do mid 6 second 1/4 miles. I’m sure this car had lots of power I’m just not sure it had anything close to 1700 Ponies.